Denier Rating
Select carefully for Australian conditions

The denier rating of a rug is a measure of the size of the thread used in the manufacture of the outer material. A larger denier thread provides a thicker, stronger and more durable rug but increases price.

Generally a 600 denier material is suitable for most purposes in Australia . Using a higher denier rating with a high poly fill such as 300 gm significantly increases the price but does not necessarily mean they will last longer nor will it necessarily give you the utilisation to warrant the extra cost.

Paddock accidents, barbed wire, bits from other horses and the UV breakdown from the Australian sun is the usual life limiting factor of rugs used in Australia.

In most parts of Australia we have a mild climate compared to the snow and blizzard of Europe.

The heavy denier heavy fill rugs are designed and marketed by companies who sell predominantly for the freezing conditions horses face in Europe . The risk of using a heavy poly fill in many parts of Australia is you tend to “cook” your horse.

When you select your rugs you might like to think about a range of rugs rather than one very expensive very heavy rug. Most people will find two rugs of different “thickness or fill” will work better than one every heavy rug.

Having a light rug that is water proof, perhaps a waterproof shell with a lining and no fill, for day use and a 240 gm fill combo for night use allows you to better regulate the temperature and provide a higher level of comfort for your horse. It allows you to change the rug to allow the original rug to dry out and breath.

Water Proof

The Horse Line rugs are classified as Waterproof and Teflon coated. You will find these rugs are as dry as the best we have seen.

Waterproof in this context refers to the outer fabric of the rug, which will not allow water to pass from the outside through to the horse.

Any rug advertised as waterproof is referring to the fabric used for the rug, rather than the whole product. This is because rugs contain stitching & fastenings that cannot be tape seamed to prevent water penetration.

Although threads swell to fill stitching holes, movement is just as likely to stretch the seams. Ideally you should always be prepared to change a rug that has been subjected to hours of heavy rain for a spare dry one & dry off the original.

Our rugs are treated with DuPont Teflon fabric protector during the manufacturing process. DuPont says this coating:

“Repels water and oil based spills”

‘Breathable, durable, safe and gentle”

“Protects the fabric and makes Fabric look new longer, easy care"

Taped Seams

The best manufacturing processes are employed in the quality construction of this range of rugs. Waterproof breathable tape is heat laminated on all cut and sewn areas

No matter how good the material if the location of joins is not well designed and manufactured then the waterproof properties of your rug will be compromised. Our designs avoid a back seam and all seams are heat tape sealed on the inside as part of the manufacturing process to provide maximum joint water tightness. Importantly taped seams also reduce rubbing on your horse.


Breathable

It is essential that the horse's skin can breath through the rug to shed sweat and moisture and avoid cold and clammy conditions for the horse as it heats up and cools down.

Our outer rug materials are specially designed to remove moisture and evaporate through the material to the outside air.

The inner lining is designed to be sweat absorbent and washable with a cold water wash.

Poly Fill

Our padded rugs use a range from No fill, 140gm, 240g and 250gm poly fill material to insulate your horse from the cold and keep the heat inside.

This material is especially light and not bulky. This makes handling easy. The fill has a high thermodynamic rating for good insulation performance. In this way we achieve a rug that is light and easy to handle, sits lightly on your horse but keeps your horse warm.

Please carefully consider how much fill you need. Is your horse paddocked at night or stabled?

Australia has a wide range of winter conditions but most typically we only need to provide a moderate warming rug. Some European based manufactures sell product designed for the much colder European winters. They use 300 gm fill. Beware you can overheat your horse if the rug is too hot. We recommend a range of rugs that maintain a temperature that is not excessive or uncomfortable for your horse.

One of the complains some early users of synthetic rugs report is the over heating effect. In most cases this is simply because they had selected a rug with a fill rating too high for their conditions.

Ripstop

Refers to the material and describes a way of modifying the wrap & weft of a fabric to enable it to contain rips and tears. Usually a man made toughened fabric this does not mean that it is impossible to rip. For example, it will not stop barbed wire tears.

Embedded in the material is a tough rip stop thread that can be seen as a checkerboard effect in the material.